Week 2: WFT vs. NY Giants

By Dan Ryans

WASHINGTON–Thursday is finally here. The Washington Football Team is ready for a quick turnaround as they take on the New York Giants in a critical Thursday night matchup at home. With Washington already in a massive hole after its season-opening loss to the Chargers on Sunday, this game could dictate how the season will go for the team. 

Besides Sunday’s loss, there are many questions about the quarterback situation with the burgundy and gold after the injury to QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. Washington knew the risks that came with bringing in the 38-year-old veteran. Let’s be honest; it wasn’t necessarily a great signing for a team trying to build off of last year’s playoff appearance. While the term Fitz Magic has been associated with short-lived runs of excellent football he has given his last eight teams, it didn’t mean that Fitzpatrick would bring instant success to Washington. He has only led teams to two winning seasons and never made the playoffs. Now he’s out with a hip injury. Given the fact that Fitzy has elected not to have surgery on the hip subluxation, it can take several weeks, maybe the whole season, to heal. Taylor Heinicke now slides into the QB1 spot, and he also has a lot to prove. Playing two and a half quarters of football on Sunday and completing 11 of 15 passes for 122 yards and throwing one touchdown is good, but it will not win you many games. With his style of play and confidence to lead the squad, Heinicke already has teammates who trust him and will do everything they can to rally around him on Thursday. 

Washington, however, should have no problem beating a New York team that was dreadful in last week’s defeat against Denver. All Coach Ron Rivera needs to do is develop a game plan that utilizes the skills and strengths of Taylor Heinicke, the offense, and the defense. WFT has to be better on both sides of the ball. In the defense’s case, it’s all about containing QB Daniel Jones. He seems to have the best success against this Washington team, including an excellent performance in Week 6 of last season when Jones carried the ball seven times for 74 yards. Daniel Jones can run, but his fellow teammates in blue have a lot of trouble protecting him as he was sacked twice in Sunday’s game. Jones also has issues with ball security, given his 30 career fumbles. So Washington’s game plan is to pound the Giants offensive line and contain Daniel Jones. That, along with minimal penalties and a good game from Taylor Heinicke and the offense, should give you a nice win on a short week. As Coach Rivera told his team as they gathered last week, “One less mistake. That’s the difference in this football game. One less mistake, alright? That’s the truth of the matter.”

Covid and the Saints

By Mark Halpern

     Yesterday I found out that six, count it six different assistant coaches on the New Orleans Saints tested positive for the Covid virus. I would be angrier if they weren’t vaccinated, but they all were; however, the people they must have been around were not. The people around the ones who gave it to them could have been vaccinated, but at least some of the people they were in contact with most likely weren’t.

    How does this affect the Saints? Well, they must have regular daily testing to ensure their tier 1 and tier 2 players do not test positive, and we will find out today if any of the main starters have contracted it. This could be a massive problem for a football team because they would have to go on the covid list and be out for 14 days, and that could start as soon as today. Can you picture a football team having to raid their practice squad and sign as many free agents as they need to play? You might as well call them the replacements for now. According to head coach Sean Payton, most of the coaches who contracted the virus were not around many players. This can be reassuring, but if one player isn’t vaccinated, it can spread fast, like spreading cream cheese on a bagel. SO now the Saints are in full covid protocol this week. This means masks on full time; the team will have grab-and-go lunches and must be separated, and for the next few days, all players and coaches have to be tested. For a team to function correctly and prepare for what’s coming up this weekend, they need to practice as a team. If shit like this keeps happening, it’s going to be a rough season.

        As of right now, all teams are above the mandatory 85% vaccination expectancy. That’s still not 100%, and again I understand it’s an individuals right to get the vaccine or not, but in the case of playing on a major sporting team, there should be no excuse, especially with how this virus spreads, and that is how the old man sees it.

Round 5 to Mahomes The Run game Kept Browns Going

By Lawrence Lang

In Round five of the Baker Mayfield Patrick Mahomes rivalry, Mahomes would come away with the victory and lead the Kansas City Chiefs to their first win of the season of the Cleveland Browns 33-29. Mayfield would go 21/28 321 yards passing and one interception for the quarterbacks, while Mahomes went 27/36 337 yards, passing three touchdowns and zero interceptions.

On the bright side, one thing that looked good for the Browns was the run game, especially against a great defense in the Chiefs. They accumulated 153 yards rushing as a team. Nick Chubb at 15 carries for 83 yards and two touchdowns and one fumble, Kareem Hunt would have six careers for 33 yards and one touchdown, and even Jarvis Landry joined in on the fun with two careers for 13 yards and one touchdown.

Looking at the Browns receiving side, they could rack up the yards with 321 total yards. The top receiving leaders were David Njoku 76 yards, Jarvis Landry 71 yards, and Anthony Schwartz 69 yards. The only thing missing from the Browns receiving was the end zone; hence they turned to the run game.

The Chiefs were the opposite as they turned to the receiving game to get it in the endzone, but the rushing game still helped them win this week. Clyde Edwards-Helaire led the way with 14 carries for 43 yards, and Mahomes had five carries for 18 yards and one touchdown. On the receiving end, Tyreek Hill had 11 receptions for 197 yards and one touchdown, and Travis Kelce had six receptions for 76 yards and two touchdowns.

In the end, this was a great Sunday afternoon game that saw the game go back and forth. It’s just that the Browns had one foul play, and that came down when Mayfield threw the interception with 1:40 left in the fourth quarter that sealed the game for the Chiefs. Obsolvey a few things the Browns need to work on heading into week 2, one being their defense. Granted, this is a hard one to call in that they faced their Chiefs opening week, but 33 points are still 33 points, which means things need to be worked on. Besides getting the ball in the end zone on the run game, they need to find a way to get the ball in the end zone on the receiving end. If defenses figure out the run end of things near the endzone, you will be kicking field goals all seasons, and they might help win games, but they won’t help win them all. The Browns will look to rebound in week 2 in their home opener against the Tennessee Titans at 1 PM.

Rams roll pass Bears in prime time 34-14

By Zakary Haines

LOS ANGELES–What better way to kick off the season than with a win on Sunday Night Football. The Los Angeles Rams were able to dominate their opponent, the Chicago Bears, and go on to win 34 to 14. A 20 point blowout for Matthew Stafford to make his LA debut. The night was filled with excitement and even trying to handle two different Bears quarterbacks. It is good to know that football is back in full swing with all of this going on.

The Rams defense looked like the number one defense from last year. There was no stopping Aaron Donald last night, as he went on to get three tackles and one sack and recorded one tackle for a loss. Donald often faced double teams, but that did not stop last year’s defensive player of the year. Jalen Ramsey had himself a night with nine tackles, seven of those solo and two for a loss. Ramsey was able to cover the whole field by being able to adjust and read plays. The Bears’ offense struggled to move the ball as the Rams held the Bears to 188 passing yards and 134 rushing yards. David Montgomery racked up 108 rushing yards and a touchdown, but that would be the most he could do against the Rams. 

As for the Rams’ offense, this game showed how much Matthew Stafford could elevate this team. Stafford recorded 321 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, and a quarterback rating of 89.9. Stafford only took one sack during the entire game, meaning the offensive line is working and in sync with the playbook. Cooper Kupp had himself a night in the receiving game, recording seven catches, 108 receiving yards, and one touchdown. Van Jefferson and Robert Woods also scored one touchdown each. 

As for the rushing game, issues from the preseason were obvious again during this game. The offense struggled to move the ball on the ground against Chicago’s defense. Only 74 rushing yards were recorded, with Darrel Henderson Jr racking up 70 rushing yards. Sony Michel made his debut tonight but only recorded two rushing yards. This shows that Sean McVay and the coaching staff need to figure out the run game if they want to make a deep playoff run. Fortunately, the run game was not so important this week, but it will have to be addressed sooner rather than later. 

In his post-game press conference, head coach Sean McVay had high praise for the defense. He said, “Defensively, what a good job holding up in the first half… I thought they made some key stops on fourth down.” When it came to the offense, McVay liked what he saw but said there is some room for improvements, specifically with the run game. McVay said, “I was encouraged to get the run game going a little bit. We can certainly build on it.” 

Overall, this was a huge victory for the Rams. The move to acquire Matthew Stafford is showing promise early on. Now with multiple receiving options, it makes Stafford’s job much easier than before. Meanwhile, the defense continues only to get better. Being able to adjust to plays between Andy Dalton and Justin Fields shows that they can handle different styles of quarterback. In week one, the Rams are looking to be one of the best. The Rams are on the road this Sunday in Indianapolis to take on the Colts. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT.

Bills Start Hot Then Go Ice Cold

By Lawrence Lang

Sunday saw the first time since 2019 the return of Bills fans, aka Bills Mafia, return to Buffalo in Highmark Stadium. The Buffalo Bills would start hot when they received the ball on the opening kick-off, and Isah McKenize would return for a 75-yard kick-off return. After the return, the Bills would settle for a field goal, going up 3-0 over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bills would extend their lead in the second quarter when Quarterback Josh Allen threw a three-yard pass to Gabriel Davis to take a 10-0 lead. Allen would finish the day going 30 of 51 270 yards passing and one touchdown.

The turning point in this game came in the fourth quarter after a pair of field goals by the Steelers to make the score 10-6. The Steelers would take control of the game with a touchdown from Ben ​​Roethlisberger to Diante Johnson would give the Steeler the lead 13-10 Then with the Bills punting to the Steelers. Steelers would block the punt, and Ulysses Grant III would return it for another touchdown giving the Steeler an even more commanding lead at 20-10. The game would end with the Steelers taking the win with a 23-16 win. Roethlisberger ended the day going 18 of 32, 188 yards passing, and one touchdown.

The game was very interesting for the Bills because things looked like they would pick up where they left off last season, especially what happened in the kick-off return. But it seems the Bills got caught up in the moment you can’t bring the ball back 75 yards just to get three points. It would be best to get six out of that, and that comes down to play calling. Granted, going up 10-0 going into halftime looked good for the Bills, but it seemed they let up a bit going into the second half, and instead of keeping the foot on the gas, they let up on the gas and let the Steelers take control. But this is the first week of the season, and you can’t make assumptions yet that this is not good for the Bills. If anything, this will get them to look at what they did right and what went wrong for them and get them ready for the week two matchup against their division rival, The Miami Dolphins, in Miami.

The Dolphins come in as the only team to get a win in week one in the AFC East, beating division opponent The New England Patriots 17-16. Stay tuned for further analysis later this week for the Bills Dolphins game on Sunday at 1 PM.

Dallas Vs Tampa Post Game

By Mark Halpern

Missed it by that much {more like 35 feet}

Last night we saw a great football game between the defending world champs and the Dallas Cowboys. The game, for the most part, was excellent. Both teams came out firing, with Tampa putting the first score up and to no other than Gronk. The Cowboys, for the most part, played well. There were a few drops here and there during the passing game, the running game I’ll touch on, and of course, the reason we lost.

Dak Prescott returned to the gridiron last night after a horrific injury last season but, you would not have noticed it at all. Prescott came out firing and shook off all the rust or questions about his health on his first throw, which was an 18-yard completion to Cooper. Dak was firing on all cylinders and completed passes to every first-string player. Dak had a massive night, completing 42 passes for 403 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. This is far better than most analysts were saying he was going to do. In our live Thursday night show, I said Dak would have 300+ yards 3 total TD’s, and I was brushed off and smirked. Dak is back, folks, and he shows no signs of last year’s injury hampering him at all.

The running game was nonexistent, which had most Cowboys fans wondering if Zeke was hurt? The Cowboys planned to make it a passing night after seeing what defense schemes they were being shown. With Zack Martin out, the offensive line was weakened but still played a great game. Zeke was not going to run anywhere with the looks they were being given, so they turned to the pass. Zeke, however, came up big in the blocking game. He picked up many players coming on the blitz to give Dak more time, which we didn’t see from him last year. The same thing is to be said for Tony Pollard, who saw more looks in the passing game than running schemes.

The wide receivers had a big night for the Cowboys. Cooper and Lamb both eclipsed the hundred-yard mark, and both scored touchdowns in the game. Michael Gallup also had 36 yards, but he injured his right leg during the game and will be missed for a few weeks. Cedrick Wilson had a good game, and I expect him to be stepping up along with Noah Brown while Gallup will be unavailable. Both tight ends were featured, and I expect them to do more blocking for Zeke next Sunday.

The Defense did not have a horrible day but a rough one. One big positive was that they forced three turnovers in the game and kept the Cowboys in the mix. However, you can only give Tom Brady so much time, or he will beat you, and that is what he did. The Tampa o-line kept Brady off the ground and gave him time to complete passes to Antonio Brown, Godwin, and Gronk. Antonio Brown constantly beat Anthony Brown on the night to the tune of 118 yards and a score. The Cowboys needed to play better coverage in the secondary and get more pressure on the quarterback or see the same problems next week.    

I have seen many fans blame the fact that the Cowboys lost due to the non-call on offensive pass interference in the game’s waning moments. The Cowboys lost because their placekicker Greg Zuerlein missed a chip-shot 31-yard field goal that shanked left. He then missed an extra point later on. Those four points were the difference in the game and cost the Cowboys their first win of the year. That is why the Cowboys lost, plain and simple.

With the run game being nonexistent this week, I expect to see a better sample of it in the next few weeks. The Cowboy’s only lost by 2 points. Both teams played very well, and next week’s challenge of the Chargers will be another good test for this potent offense.

Welcome To The Mahomes Show

By: Mike Rifkin

On Sunday in Kansas City the reigning two time AFC champions were in a battle with the Cleveland Browns. At halftime  the Chiefs trailed the Browns 22-10. But in the second half the Chiefs outscored Cleveland 23-7, to win 33-29.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes went 27-36 for 337 yards and 3 touchdowns, while adding 1 on the ground. 75 of Mahomes’s 337 yards came on one big throw to Tyreek Hill who made a great adjustment to the ball and ran it in for a touchdown and pulled the Chiefs to within two points. Hill on Sunday had 11 catches for 197 yards and a touchdown. Tight End Travis Kelce had six catches for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Mahomes was under plenty of pressure on Sunday against the Cleveland defense but was only sacked twice. Kansas City’s offense was 9-13 on third down. 

But to give Mahomes an opportunity to come back the Chiefs defense needed to be better in the second half and they were. This defense was without star safety Tyrann Mathieu who had been on the covid list until Saturday. They held the Browns to seven points in the second half and forced two turnovers. Star defensive tackle Chris Jones had two sacks in the game. Mike Hughes, a cornerback that they got from the Minnesota Vikings sealed the victory intercepting a Baker Mayfield pass with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter. If there is one area the Chiefs are going to want to improve it’s their run defense, the Browns ran for 153 yards and four touchdowns. 

Andy Reid knows his team is going to get every team’s best shot this season because they have been to two consecutive Super Bowls. Kansas City’s road to a third consecutive Super Bowl continues on Sunday night as they travel to Baltimore to play the Ravens.

Early Bird Gets the W

By Mike Rifkin

On Sunday the Arizona Cardinals opened up their season playing some sweet music in the Music city. The Cardinals defeated the Tennessee Titans by a score of 38-13.  This was a big game for the Cardinals after a disappointing end to their 2020 season, where they lost their last 2 games and missed out on the playoffs. 

The stars came out to play for the Cardinals led by quarterback Kyler Murray who threw for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns, he also had a rushing touchdown. Receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk both had 2 touchdown receptions. The Cardinals were very balanced on Sunday they ran 67 plays (32 pass 33 rush). Arizona had 416 yards of total offense, and were 4-5 in the Red Zone and was 7-13 on third downs.If the Cardinals want 2021 to be successful they need to maintain that balance for the season.

 On the defensive side of the ball defensive end Chandler Jones had 5 of the team’s 6 sacks. Jones missed most of the 2020 season with a Biceps injury. In his debut with the Cardinals JJ Watt had 2 tackles, but he had a major presence in this game. But this Cardinals defense was tremendous in week 1 as they held the Titans to a total of 248 yards and forced three turnovers. They held Derrick Henry, the 2020 rushing champion to 58 yards and he averaged 3.4 yards per carry. Receivers AJ Brown and Julio Jones combined for 7 catches 78 yards and a touchdown. Give credit to defensive coordinator Vance Joseph who devised a great game plan against an explosive Titans offense. 

Next week the Cardinals will have their home opener against the Minnesota Vikings. This game will mark the return of Patrick Peterson who left Arizona as a free agent in the offseason. 

9/11 Baseball Mets vs Yankees

20th Anniversary Edition NEVER FORGET

Twenty years today started like any other day for me. I would get up and go to work at the store I managed while in college called Drug Mart of Millwood. I was resetting the front end when a customer whom I have known for at least ten years came in with a scared and frightened look on her face. I walked over to her, and she told me that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center buildings.  I looked at her and asked her to tell me that again and then I ran to the back and got on one of the computers and there it was. Needless to say, we were all in a state of shock, but at 9:05, we couldn’t believe our ears because, over the radio, we heard the news that another plane had hit the other tower. Everyone knew this was terrorism. A half-hour later, a plane struck the pentagon, and then the brave passengers of United 93 tried taking the plane back from the hijackers, but the plane ended up crashing into a field in Pennsylvania. This day, needless to say, was no ordinary day. 

    The United States shut down that day to everything relating to travel.  In the end of the terrorism, more than 3000 people lost their lives, and a country had lost their identity for a while. Nothing was the same for the first few days, especially American Baseball. A sport that truly defined America had been shut down due to the events of September 11th.  That didn’t stop the players from around the country lending a hand to helping with the disaster that took place on that day. The Mets and the Yankees organizations did everything they could to help. Not just by sending financial support but helping the city in any way they could. The talk about resuming baseball didn’t happen until about six days later, and on September 17th, 2001, baseball returned. The Mets vs. the Pirates game was played not too far from where flight 93 crashed in one game. Baseball was back, but it was a quiet return until baseball returned to New York on September 21, 2001, for two long-time rivals that joined as a family, the Mets and The Braves. All eyes were on this game as it was the first significant event in New York since 9/11. New York fans, Atlanta fans, Members of various law enforcement, The FDNY, service members from the military, and the great Rudy Giuliani were all in attendance for this game.

There wasn’t a dry eye in that stadium from the get-go. For seven and a half innings, the stadium was alive, but still, something was off. The Mets were losing 2-1 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Edgardo Alfonso drew a walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Desi Relaford. Mets fans started getting a little louder when Mike Piazza walked up to the plate. You could feel the stadium’s energy across the country and for some reason, I knew something special was going to happen. The attendance of over 41000, whether they were Mets fans or not, was standing and getting loud. On the Next pitch, Piazza swung, and the sound of the ball hitting the bat, you knew this ball was gone. The Stadium erupted with cheer as Piazza rounded the bases. His home run was said to help heal a city. The city had life again and got even louder when Piazza came out for the curtain call. Piazza doesn’t call himself a hero, as he said in an interview. He felt like a leader of a Baseball team and a part of New York that needed to come alive.

     Today marks the 20th anniversary of that tragic day, and it’s fitting that the Mets are playing the Yankees. The city will again be joined by very passionate baseball fans, and they will be together there as a family. The players will be sporting hats from all the agencies that helped during the terrorist attacks. Again, there won’t be a dry eye when the national anthem is sung tonight. Not that people don’t cry when it is sung on an average day. This game means more to the city than it does to the players and the team’s records. Win or lose matters in the books but, playing Baseball in NY on this day is just a powerful thing. There will be enough security to occupy a small country, and they will not put up for any disobedience from anyone tonight. Citi Field will be loud and tough to reach via car due to heavy traffic, so I hope you take or took mass transit if you go. In conclusion, I am a die-hard Mets fan, and I genuinely hope they win, but tonight like everyone else, I am a New Yorker, and this is how the old man sees it.

Cardinals @ Titans

By Bill Murphy 

Nashville–Well, the Tennessee Titans start the season on a low note after getting embarrassed at home by the Arizona Cardinals 38-13. Tennessee’s performance in this game was anemic as it now starts the season 0-1. 

Ryan Tannehill’s performance was weak, throwing 21 completions out of 35 attempts for 212 yards and one interception. Tannehill was sacked six times; five of those were done by Chandler Jones, and two of them resulted in fumbles. The offensive line has to do a better job at protecting Tannehill.  On the bright side of Tannehill’s performance, he ran a 1-yard touchdown and threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to A.J . Brown. 

One other player that underperformed was running back Derrick Henry, who ran for only 58 yards. The offense was silenced entirely by the Cardinals’ solid defense holding the Titans to only an abysmal 248 yards.   

As previously mentioned, the Titans had one of the worst defenses in the NFL last season. Things were slightly better on defense in the preseason. However, today, Tennessee allowed the Cardinals to put up a total of 418 yards. One of the keys to victory was the defense holding Kyler Murray and his top weapon Deandre Hopkins.  The Titans clearly didn’t do that. Kyler Murray threw  21 completions out of 32 attempts, threw for 289 yards and  20 rushing yards. Murray also threw four touchdowns; two were to Deandre Hopkins, who had six receptions and 83 yards. The other two touchdowns were to Christian Kirk, who had five receptions and 70 yards. The defense let Murray run all over the place. 

After this giant disappointment, the Titans will have a challenge next week when they go to Seattle to take on Russell Wilson and the Seahawks.